Man charged in connection with Philly crash involving stolen Cadillac SUV that killed man in wheelchair
Police identified the man in the wheelchair as 38-year-old Bill Repka. Three other occupants of the 2017 Escalade are still being sought.
A 19-year-old man was charged with gun-related crimes in connection with a stolen-vehicle crash that killed a man in a wheelchair Saturday night during a police pursuit in the city’s Port Richmond section, police said Monday.
Efrain Rosario, of South Philadelphia, was one of four occupants in a stolen 2017 Cadillac Escalade being chased by police when the SUV struck a 2020 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck stopped at a light at Aramingo and Castor Avenues, then jumped the curb at a Burger King and hit a 38-year-old man in a wheelchair who was panhandling outside the restaurant, police said.
The man, identified as Bill Repka, was transported by medics to Temple University Hospital, where he later died.
Police said they found several firearms in the stolen Cadillac.
A 27-year-old woman and an 11-year-old girl in the pickup truck suffered minor injuries.
Shortly before 9:15 p.m. Saturday, police were pursuing the Cadillac when it rammed into a 2007 Mazda CX-7 stopped at Aramingo Avenue and Ontario Street, causing both vehicles to spin out, police said.
The Escalade fled the scene and continued east on Aramingo Avenue until it hit the Mazda and the man in the wheelchair, police said.
The three of the four occupants of the Cadillac who ran from the scene are still being sought by police.
The crash comes at a time of rising carjackings in Philadelphia as well as more lethal streets for pedestrians. With several weeks still left in 2022, 49 pedestrians have been killed in traffic accidents this year, according to city data, nearly as many as 2020′s all-time record of 52 deaths. Carjackings are continuing to skyrocket: more than 1,000 have been reported this year, compared to 847 last year and 410 in 2020.
It was unclear how long the police had been pursuing the stolen SUV, or whether the chase took place at high speeds. It also was not immediately known if the chase was being monitored by a police supervisor.
The pursuit and crash are being investigated by the department’s Internal Affairs Bureau and the Accident Investigation Division, and the officer pursuing the Cadillac has been placed on restricted duty status pending the outcome of the Internal Affairs investigation, said police spokesperson Sgt. Eric Gripp.
“Due to the investigations being underway, we cannot comment on the specifics at this time,” Gripp said in an email.